LOCATION  OF 

FORT  CREVECOEUR 


KT 


DAN   R.  SHEEN 

FKORIA,  ILL. 


Copyright   1919 

by 
I>HH   H.  Sheen,  Peoria,  111. 


Location  of  Fort  Crevecoeur 


by 

DAN  E.  SHEEN 
Peoria,  111. 


FORT  CREVECOEUE  (pronounced  Cravekur)  was  the  first  struc- 
ture erected  by  white  men  in  what  is  now  known  as  the  State  of  Illinois. 
It  was  built  in  the  year  1680,  by  Rene  Robert  Cavalier,  who  was  en- 
nobled by  King  Louis  the  Fourteenth  of  France  as  Sieur  de  LaSalle, 
aided  by  thirty-one  other  Frenchmen  who  came  with  him  from  Fort 
Frontenac,  now  at  Kingston,  in  Canada;  and,  also,  by  some  of  that  part 
of  the  tribe  of  Illinois  Indians  that  occupied  the  two  villages,  on  each 
side  of  the  Illinois  River,  near  a  place  then  called  "Peoria",  where  he 
landed  and  built  the  Fort.  He  began  the  work  on  the  fifteenth  day  of 
January,  1680,  and  the  fort  was  practically  completed  on  the  twenty- 
second  day  of  March  of  the  same  year,  when  he  left  his  Lieutenant, 
Henry  de  Tonty,  in  charge  of  it  and,  taking  with  him  two  canoes  and 
six  men,  went  back  to  Fort  Frontenac  (Illinois  Historical  Collections, 
Vol.  1,  pages  87  and  131).  A  few  days  after  his  departure  he  sent 
word  back  to  Tonty  to  build  a  fort  at  Starved  Rock,  near  Ottawa,  and 
Tonty  went  up  there  for  that  purpose  with  some  of  his  men.  Those 
who  remained  at  the  fort,  stripped  the  place  of  everything  valuable, 
and  threw  what  they  could  not  carry  into  the  river.  It  is  generally 
believed  that  they  burned  the  fort;  but,  the  Iroquois  Indians  on  the 
tenth  of  September  of  that  year  waged  war  against  the  Illinois  Indians, 
for  whose  protection  in  part  LaSalle  said,  in  getting  their  permission 
to  build  the  fort,  it  was  to  be  built ;  and,  it  is  probable  that  in  the  battle 
between  those  tribes,  at  that  time,  the  fort  was  burned.  Tonty  tells  of 
the  desertion  of  his  men,  and  says  that  they  left  him  stripped  of  every- 
thing, but  he  does  not  say  they  burned  the  fort,  something  he  would 
have  been  apt  to  mention  if  it  had  occurred  (Vol.  1,  Illinois  Historical 
Collections,  Pages  80,  81  and  132).  During  the  two  hundred  and  thir- 
ty-nine years  that  have  since  elapsed,  history,  conjecture,  and  tradi- 
tion, have  been  so  confused  that  the  site  of  the  fort  has  become  lost. 

FIVE  ALLEGED  SITES  EXIST 

That  the  fort  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  River  at  Peoria  is 
no  longer  questioned.  The  writings  of  those  who  saw  Fort  Crevecoeur 
show  the  following  facts. 


First :  It  was  a  league  from  Pimiteoui. 

Second:        It  was  half  a  league  from  Omaha's  camp. 

Third:          It  was  an  hour's  ride  in  a  canoe  below  ice  on  the 
river  in  March,  1680. 

Fourth :  It  was  defended  on  one  side  by  the  river. 

Fifth :  It  had  a  marsh  in  front  of  it. 

Sixth:  The  main  bank  of  the  river  was  200  paces  from  it. 

Seventh:  The  river  in  the  rainy  season  spread  to  it. 

Eighth:       It    was   near   the   Indian    villages    were    LaSalle 
landed. 

Ninth:          It  was  on  a  " Little  Mound"  or  "Knoll"  or  "Hil- 
lock" or  "Eminence." 

Tenth :         It  was  adjoining  woods. 

Eleventh:    It  had  wide  deep  ravines,  made  by  rains,  on  two 
sides  of  it  and  on  part  of  another  side. 

Twelfth:      It  was  near  water  that  did  not  freeze  much  in 
winter. 

These  facts  must  all  concur  to  establish  the  location  of  the  site.  All 
five  of  the  alleged  sites  are  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  opposite  the 
City  of  Peoria.  Two  of  them  are  on  the  top  of  the  bluffs  about  five 
miles  apart.  The  lower  hill  site  is  opposite  the  lower  end  of  the  City 
of  Peoria,  and  the  upper  hill  site  about  opposite  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween the  City  of  Peoria  and  the  Village  of  Averyville.  There  are 
three  alleged  sites  in  the  Valley,  all  at  a  lower  altitude  of  at  least  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  all  close  to  the  river.  The  first  site  selected 
in  the  Valley  was  where  Wesley  City  stands.  Mr.  Charles  Ballance,  a 
resident  of  Peoria  from  1831  to  his  death  in  1873,  published  a  history 
of  Peoria  County  shortly  before  his  death  fixing  Wesley  City  as  the 
real  site.  About  the  year  1902  the  Peoria  Chapter  of  the  D.  A.  R. 
located  the  lower  hill  site  at  a  point  a  little  below  Wesley  City,  and 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more  back  from  the  river.  They  placed  a  stone 
monument,  suitably  inscribed,  upon  it .  About  the  same  time  the  Peoria 
Historical  Association  established  the  upper  hill  site,  about  half  a  mile 
back  from  the  river  or  lake,  and  also  marked  the  place  with  a  stone 
monument  suitably  inscribed.  About  the  year  1910  in  the  Village  of 
East  Peoria,  about  equi-distant  from  the  hill  sites,  the  writer  selected 
one  of  the  valley  sites.  The  other  valley  site  was  located  by  Arthur 
Lagron,  a  French  engineer  and  surveyor  of  Peoria,  about  the  year 
1913,  in  a  Railroad  yard  a  little  above  Wesley  City.  These  five  sites 

a 


we  will  call  respectively,  the  WESLEY  CITY  SITE,  the  LOWER 
HILL  SITE,  the  UPPER  HILL  SITE,  the  EAST  PEORIA  SITE,  and 
Hie  RAILROAD  YARD  SITE. 

RELIABLE  DATA  CONCERNING  THE  SITE 

Father  Louis  Hennepin  was  the  historian  of  the  LaSalle  enterprize. 
He -published  two  accounts  of  it;  the  first  at  Paris  in  1683,  entitled 
"Description  de  La  Louisane";  and,  the  other  in  two  volumes  pub- 
lished in  Utrecht  in  1697  and  1698  entitled  "A  NEW  DISCOVERY." 
The  first  publication  was  not  translated  into  English  until  the  year 
1880.  It  is  found  in  Volume  1,  Illinois  Historical  Collection,  pages 
46  to  95  inclusive.  The  second  account  is  published  by  Reuben  Gold 
Thwait.  Both  are  in  the  Peoria  Public  Library.  La&alle  did  not  pub- 
lish a  connected  account  of  his  discoveries.  His  writings  are  frag- 
mentary, but  are  complete  for  the  purpose  of  locating  the  site  of  the 
fort.  Henry  de  Tonty  was  LaSalle 's  lieutenant,  and  his  writings  are 
meagre.  They  are  principally  a  short  memoir,  found  in  said  Volume  1, 
pages  128  to  164  inclusive,  covering  a  period  from  1678  to  1693,  and 
inclade  the  murder  of  LaSalle  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Texas,  in 
March,  1687,  by  three  of  his  voyageurs,  Duhault  (or  Duhaut),  Lanctot 
(or  Liotot)  and  Heinz.  Father  Zenobius  Membre  was  one  of  the  three 
Catholic  Friars  who  accompanied  LaSalle.  He  was  a  guest  of  Chief 
Omaha,  whose  camp  was  half  a  league  from  Fort  Crevecoeur,  while 
the  fort  was  being  'built,  and  made  frequent  visits  to  the  fort.  He 
wrote  somewhat  about  the  fort.  Jean  Baptiste  Louis  Franquelin  was 
appointed  by  the  French  court  to  be  hydrographer,  to  furnish  a  map 
of  LaSalle 's  discoveries  along  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  valleys.  He 
made  a  map  in  1684,  under  the  auspices  of  LaSalle,  having  commenced 
it  in  1679.  It  was  six  feet  long  and  four  and  one-half  feet  wide  and 
showed  among  other  things  the  valley  and  the  river  at  Peoria,  and  the 
hills  adjoining,  and  pictured  Fort  Crevecoeur  as  located  in  the  valley 
upon  the  river.  The  original  of  the  map  became  lost,  but  a  copy  of  it 
is  to  be  found  in  Parkman's  "LaSalle  and  the  Great  Northwest"; 
and,  also  in  "Jesuit  Relations",  Vol.  63;  and,  also,  in  Vol.  1  "Chicago 
and  its  Builders."  These  copies  are  all  alike,  and  we  furnish  a  copy 
of  one  of  them.  Those  five  persons  LaSalle,  Hennepin,  Tonty,  Membre, 
and  Franquelin,  are  the  only  ones  known  to  have  seen  the  fort  or  its 
ruins  who  tell  us  where  it  was  located.  They  do  not  contradict  each 
other  about  it,  and  need  no  corroboration.  Hearsay,  and  conjecture, 
cannot  be  used  to  contradict  them.  A  great  many  writers,  most  of  them 
born  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  fort  was  destroyed,  have 
expressed  opinions  about  its  location,  among  whom  are  Aubry,  Bal- 

3 


lance,  Bancroft,  Beckwith,  Breese,  Brown,  Coxe,  Charlevoix,  Craig, 
Drown,  Davidson  and  Stuve,  Edwards,  Falconer,  Ferris,  Flint,  Ford,' 
French,  Gayerre,  Gale,  Gravier,  Hosmer,  Leclercq,  Marest,  Mason[ 
Matson,  McLaughlin,  McCulloch,  Margry,  Moses,  John  Moses,  Park- 
man,  Peck,  Perkins,  Reynolds,  Rice,  Shea,  Sparks,  Thevenot,  Winsor, 
Zotz,  Chicago  Tribune,  November  15th,  1889,  and  Chicago  Tribune, 
February  24th,  1895. 

FIRST,  THE  FORT  A  LEAGUE  FROM  PIMITEOUI 
LaSalle,  as  found  in  Margry,  Vol.  2,  page  247,  speaking  of  the 
width  of  the  Illinois  River  said,  "But  at  different  places  as  at  Pimiteoui, 
A  Jeague  east  of  Crevecoeur,  and  two  or  three  other  places,"  etc.    This 
gives  the  distance  that  the  fort  was  from  Pimiteoui,  and  indicates  that 
the  word  "Pimiteoui"  as  here  used  means  a  Village.    That  Pimiteoui 
was  not  only  a  lake  which  extended  from  the  Narrows  above  Peoria 
to  near  Lacon,  in  Marshall  County,  but  was  also  a  Village  probably 
located  on  ten  mile  creek  which  empties  about  mid-way  The  Narrows, 
appears  by  a  photo  of  a  map  possessed  by  the  writer  obtained  from 
the  Public  Archives  of  Canada,  at  Ottawa.    The  Narrows  is  a  strait 
connecting  the  Lake  opposite  Peoria  with  the  one  above  it,  and  is  about 
a  mile  and  a  half  long.    At  that  point,  in  early  days  of  modern  settle- 
ment, there  was  a  place  called  "Little  Detroit,"  beautifully  situated  for 
an  Indian  village,  which  we  think  was  formerly  the  village  of  Pimiteoui. 
Sometimes  the  Village  was  mentioned  by  the  early  writers,  and  some- 
times the  Lake.    As  for  instance,  LaSalle  speaking  of  his  second  trip 
down  the  River,  as  stated  in  Margry,  Vol.  2,  page  133,  says,  "On  ar- 
riving at  Pimiteoui  or  Crevecoeur  were  found  the  remains  of  the  de- 
•Struction  of  the  deserters."    Here  the  fort  seems  connected  with  the 
'village,  and  the  Village  must  be  referred  to  because  in  the  Lake  there 
could  be  no  remains  of  the  destruction  of  the  deserters.    Phillip  Francis 
Rehault,  director  general  of  the  mines  of  the  company  of  the  Indies, 
jand  formerly  a  banker  in  Paris,  obtained  several  concessions  or  tracts 
of  land  in  1723,  one  of  which  was  described  as:    "One  league  at  front 
at  Pimiteau,  on  the  Illinois  River  facing  the  east  and  adjoining  the 
lake  bearing  the  name  of  the  Village,  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  banks 
of  the  village  for  half  a  league  above  it,  with  a  depth  of  five  leagues, 
the  point  of  the  compass  following  the  Illinois  River  down  the  same 
upon  one  side,  and  ascending  by  the  river  Arcary  which  forms  the 
middle  through  the  rest  of  the  depth."     (History  of  Peoria  City  and 
County  (Rice's  Vol.  1,  page  34).    We  quote  from  the   same   history 
as  follows:    "Here  we  have  the  fact  well  authenticated  by  a  grant  of 
land  based  thereon  that  in  1723  there  existed  at  Pimiteoui  a  village 


hearing  the  same  name  as  the  lake  upon  which  it  was  situated.  Whether 
or  not  this  is  the  same  village  mentioned  l>y  Marquette,  St.  Cosme,  and 
Greviere,  does  not  appear.  But  that  it  was  a  French  village  can 
scarcely  be  doubted.  This  grant  of  land  made  June  14th,  1723,  was 
considered  in  Congress,  and  is  a  matter  of  record  there,  and  is  part 
of  the  registry  of  lands  entered  in  Kdwardsville,  in  1820,  by  Edward 
Coles,  register.  He  made  report  to  congress  that  year  stating  among 
other  things  that  Charlotte  Troge,  nee  St.  Francois,  laid  claim  to  a 
lot  containing  two  argents  situated  two  miles  above  Fort  Clark,  near 
"OLD  FORT  PKORIA."  This  claim  was  under  what  was  known  as 
''Ancient  Grants,"  which  preceded  all  recorded  title  and  was  also  recog- 
nized by  Congress." 

LaSalle  wrote  to  one  of  his  friends,  as  found  in -Margry,  2nd  Vol. 
of  date  September  29,  1(>80,  as  follows:  "We  went  four  days  towards 
the  quarter  south  of  the  southwest  of  the  river  and  arrived  the  fifth 
day  of  January  at  a  place  called  by  the  natives  "Pimiteoui."  They 
wanted  us  to  settle  among  them  but  we  answered  we  could  not  on 
account  of  the  Iroquois  who  were  subjects  of  the  King,  but  asked  for 
permission  to  build  a  fort  to  help  them  to  defend  their  rights  in  case 
the  Iroquois  would  attack  them.  To  this  they  agreed,  and  after  some 
discussion  we  decided  to  build  the  fort. ' '  The  word  ' '  Pimiteoui ' '  means 
a  place  of  "fat  beasts,"  and  would  not  apply  to  a  body  of  water,  with- 
out the  word  lake  attached.  When  therefore,  LaSalle  says,  "As  at 
Pimiteoui  a  league  east  of  Crevecoeur,  he  evidently  referred  to  the 
village  of  Pimiteoui  and  not  to  the  lake  of  that  name.  The  river  Arcary 
above  mentioned,  was  the  Kickapoo  Creek,  and  as  the  distance  from 
the  land  claimed  by  Charlotte  Troge  was  situated  two  miles  above  Fort 
(Mark,  and  as  the  River  Arcary  was  the  "middle  through  the  rest  of 
the  depth"  and  the  depth  was  five  leagues,  extending  one  league  above 
Pimiteoui  on  one  side  and  half  a  league  on  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
it  would  follow  that  there  would  l>e  about  two  leagues  between 
Pimiteoui  and  the  Kickapoo  Creek.  Two  leagues  would  be  six  miles, 
and  that  is  the  distance  from  the  lower  en-.l  of  the  lake  above  Peoria 
to  the  Kickapoo  Creek;  and  from  the  supposed  Village  on  Ten  Mile 
Creek,  to  the  Kickapoo  Creek.  This  would  place  the  lower  end  of  Lake 
Pimiteoui,  and  the  Village  of  Pimiteoui,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  Nar- 
rows; and,  a  league  west  of  that  point  would  be  where  the  Kast  Peoria 
site  of  the  Fort  is  located.  But,  assuming,  as  has  hem  m-nerally  done, 
that  Lake  Pimiteoui,  and  not  the  Village  Pimiteoui,  was  meant,  the 
result  will  IK?  the  same;  for,  Lake  Pimiteoui  as  described  by  LaSalle. 
in  Margry.  Second  Volume,  is  as  follows: 

"After  pas>ing  the  Chassanaonh  River,  which  is  ten  leagues  or 

5 


twenty-four  and  four-fifths  miles  from  Fort  St.  Louis,  at  the  right  side 
of  the  river  going  down  about  seventeen  miles  below,  is  Lake  Pimiteoui, 
which  is  eighteen  to  nineteen  miles  Jong  and  about  three  miles  wide 
at  the  widest  point.  Lake  Pimiteoui  is  formed  by  three  Lakes  which 
have  communication  with  each  other  by  as  many  straits.  The  first  lake 
is  bordered  at  the  west  by  nice  fields,  and  at  the  east  by  timber  the 
base  of  which  is  in  water.  These  timbers  extend  to  the  bottom  of  the 
hills.  All  along  the  three  lakes,  the  river  is  bordered  with  real  heavy 
timbers,  on  the  east  and  southeast.  The  smallest  lake,  or  center  lake, 
extends  more  to  the  west  side  shore  which  shore  is  formed  by  pretty 
tall  hills  also  covered  with  timber.  From  the  third  lake  some  fields 
can  be  seen.  From  there  the  river  gets  smaller  and  narrower  until  it 
reaches  another  small  lake  between  two  chains  of  hills.  These  hills  are 
sometimes  further  away  from,  and  at  other  times  nearer  to  the  river 
bank,  leaving  between  them  and  the  river,  a  long  space  covered  with 
timbers  intersected  by  swamps.  These  swamps  are  flooded  over  when- 
ever the  water  gets  higher  on  account  of  heavy  rain.  At  about  two 
miles  and  a  half  below  the  Lake  Pimiteoui  on  the  left  side  going  down, 
the  bank  of  the  river  is  all  covered  by  timber,  and  the  shore  is  gradually 
sloping  down  towards  the  bank  of  the  river,  until  it  reaches  the  foot 
of  the  hill." 

LaSalle  has  here  described  the  three  lakes  so  accurately  that  there 
can  be  no  mistake  in  saying  that  the  island  at  Chillicothe,  which  is 
a  mile  and  a  half  long,  creates  two  of  the  straits  that  connect  the  upper 
two  lakes.  To  leave  out  that  island  there  could  be  only  two  straits 
between  the  three  connected  lakes.  From  the  island  upwards  the  state- 
ment describes  the  first  or  northerly  lake  as  now  found,  allowing  for 
the  fill  of  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  years.  From  the  island  down 
the  description  of  the  middle  lake  is  accurate.  Then  from  a  point  near 
Rome  down  to  the  Narrows  is  a  good  description  of  the  fine  fields  that 
border  the  third  lake  or  the  one  just  above  the  Narrows  north  of  Peoria. 
This  arrangement  puts  a  small  lake  in  the  center.  Having  said  that  from 
Fort  St.  Louis  to  Lake  Pimiteoui  is  twenty-four  and  four-fifths  miles 
plus  seventeen  miles,  or  practically  forty-two  miles,  we  must  commence 
at  the  latter  point  for  the  head  of  the  lake.  The  Federal  Government 
in  1902  made  measurements  of,  and  borings  in  the  Illinois  River  which 
show  that  Fort  St.  Louis,  which  was  at  Starved  Rock  is  two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  River.  Deducting  the 
forty-two  miles  mentioned,  would  bring  us  to  a  point  one  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  river.  Lacon  and  Sparlattd 
are  opposite  each  other  on  different  sides  of  the  river,  and  the  last 
mentioned  point  would  be  between  them.  Lake  Pimiteoui  being 

6 


eighteen  or  nineteen  miles  long,  its  lower  end,  measured  as  nineteen 
miles,  would  be  at  a  point  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  river  or  about  two  miles  above  the  lower  end  of  the  lake 
above  the  Narrows.  This  difference  of  two  miles  can  be  accounted  for 
in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  fact  that  the  government  measurements  fol- 
low the  thread  of  the  river  which  is  somewhat  tortuous,  and  the  dis- 
tance measured  would  be,  in  that  way,  longer  than  measured  in  a 
straight  line  or  even  as  run  according  to  canoe  travel,  two  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  years  ago.  Lake  Pimiteoui  can  not  be  stretched  so  as  to 
reach  the  lower  lake  opposite  Peoria,  nor  so  as  to  make  of  it  four  lakes 
instead  of  three.  The  Narrows  being  one  mile  and  one-half  long,  and 
the  lake  opposite  Peoria  two  and  one-half  miles  long,  the  inclusion  of 
these  four  miles  would  make  Lake  Pimiteoui  that  distance  too  long, 
and  preclude  the  finding  of  a  bank  of  the  river  two  and  one-half  miles 
below  it  on  the  left  hand  side  going  down,  covered  by  timber,  and  the 
shore  gradually  sloping  toward  the  bank  of  the  river  from  the  foot  of 
the  hills.  Two  and  one-half  miles  below  the  lake  opposite  Peoria  on 
the  left  hand  side  going  down  are  found  steep  hills  adjoining  the  river 
while  the  gradual  slope  mentioned  is  two  and  a  half  miles  below  the  lake 
above  Peoria.  The  borings  by  the  government,  as  shown  by  the  sheets 
of  survey  in  the  offices  at  the  county  seat  along  the  river  prove  that  at 
Lacon  the  fill  in  the  river  is  four  feet  of  mud,  twelve  feet  of  sand  and 
two  feet  of  gravel.  From  the  island  at  Chillicothe  up  the  river,  for  the 
tight  or  ten  miles  to  Lacon,  natural  streams  of  water  flow  into  the  river 
such  as  Senatchwine,  McLaughlin  and  Gimlet  creeks  from  the  west  and 
Crow  creek  and  Strawn  creek  from  the  east  which  for  the  past  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-nine  years  have  been  carrying  detritrus  into  the  river. 
Along  that  line  are  ponds  and  byous  not  yet  filled,  in  the  valley  called 
"Swan  Lake,"  Big  Meadow  Lake,  Mud  Lake,  Gar  Lake,  Goose  Pond, 
Whitmans  Lake,  Bab's  Slough,  Sawyer's  Slough,  Horshon  Slough, 
Douglas  Slough,  McQueen  Pond,  Rice  Pond,  Round  Pond,  etc., 
which  are  evidently  the  remains  of  a  lake  that  extended  from  I^acon 
to  Chillicothe  in  lf>80,  and  from  Lacon  upward  prior  to  that  time. 
Treating  Like  Pimiteoui  as  ending  above  the  Narrows  at  Peoria,  niea- 
iir'mg  one  league  l>elow,  will  nearly  reach  the  East  Peoria  site  of 
Crevecoeur.  But,  we  would  have  to  go  about  a  league  further  down  the 
river  to  reach  any  of  the  three  sites  at  and  near  Wesley  City.  We 
therefore  contend  that  whether  we  measure  a  league  from  the  Village  of 
Pimiteoui,  or  from  the  Lake  Pimiteoui,  the  Kast  Peoria  site  will  fit  the 
record,  and  that  this  is  not  true,  of  any  of  the  other  sites.  The  upper 
hill  site  would  not  be  half  a  league  from  the  probable  location  of  the 
Village  of  Pimiteoui  nor  from  the  Lake  of  that  name. 


SECOND,  THE  FORT  HALF  A  LEAGUE  FROM  OMAHA'S  CAMP 

Hennepin,  in  his  first  publication,  as  found  in  Volume  1,  Illinois 
Historical  Collections,  pages  77  to  91,  after  describing  the  fort,  says: 
"Father  Zenobel  (M ombre),  who  had  desired  to  have  the  great  mis- 
sion of  the  Illinois,  composed  of  about  seven  or  eight  thousand  souls, 
began  to  weary  of  it.  We  spoke  about  it  to  Sieur  de  LaSalle  who  made 
a  present  of  three  axes  to  the  Father's  Host  by  name  "Omaha",  that 
is  to  say  the  wolf,  who  was  Chief  of  a  family  or  tribe  in  order  that  he 
might  take  care  to  maintain  the  father  whom  this  father  called  his  son, 
and  who  lodged  him  and  considered  him  as  one  of  his  children.  This 
father,  who  was  only  half  a  league  from  the  fort,  came  to  explain  to 
us" the  subject  of  his  troubles.." 

THIRD,  AN  HOUR'S  RIDE  IN  A  CANOE  TO  ICE  IN  MARCH,  1680 

LaSalle  in  Margry,  Vol.  2,  page  55,  says:  "I  embarked  with  six 
Frenchmen  in  two  canoes,  the  river  being  open  in  front  of  the  fort. 
But  we  had  not  gone  an  hour  until  we  had  found  ice.  I  believe  the  lack 
of  the  current  and  the  place  was  the  cause  of  the  ice  remaining  so  long, 
and  did  not  want  to  quit  my  canoes.  We  made  two  sleds  and  dragged 
our  equipment  and  canoes  upon  them  and  drew  them  to  the,  end  of  the 
lake  which  is  seven  or  eight  leagues  long."  The  distance  from  the 
Wesley  City  sites  to  the  lower  end  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria  by  way 
of  the  river,  is  about  three  miles,  and  it  has  been  assumed  by  the  advo- 
cates of  those  sites  that  it  was  in  the  lake  opposite  Peoria  where 
LaSalle  found  the  ice.  This  cannot  be  true  because  he  could  not  draw 
his  canoes  from  the  lower  end  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria  to  the  upper 
lake  above  the  Narrows  as  the  Narrows  has  never  been  known  to 
freeze  over,  and,  the  current  there  was  certainly  swifter  at  that  time 
than  it  is  now.  The  east  shore  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria,  on  account 
of  Spring  Water  that  flows  there,  would  certainly  be  free  from  ice  at 
that  time,  and  hence  there  would  be  no  need  to  drag  the  sleds  there. 
Colonel  James  M.  Rice,  author  of  the  first  ten  chapters  of  a  late  publi- 
cation, known  as  "Peoria  County  and  City"  in  Chapter  5  on  page  28, 
speaking  of  this  fact,  says,  "The  numerous  springs  coming  into  the 
river  would  keep  it  (the  river)  open  and  free  from  ice  a  much  greater 
part  of  the  year,  than  it  would  be  a  little  further  up."  Treating  the 
current  at  the  Narrows  as  being  swift  enough  to  carry  the  eight  canoes 
of  LaSalle  and  his  company  to  the  shore,  as  stated  by  LaSalle  and 
Ilennepin,  and  considering  the  fact  that  the  spring  water  along  the 
east  shore  has  been  carried  in  artificial  channels,  toward  the  lake,  in- 
stead of  being  allowed  to  follow  the  natural  course  that  it  would  take 
before  the  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  years  of  fill  have  deflected  it, 

8 


and  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  the  swift  current  of  the  Narrows  met 
the  spring  water  along  the  east  side  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria,  and 
thus,  the  lake  opposite  Peoria,  or  the  point  from  Pimiteoui  whether 
Jake  or  village,  downward,  was  open  for  canoe  travel.  Canoes  paddled 
up  stream  would  make  only  about  three  miles  an  hour,  and  from  the 
East  Peoria  site  to  the  upper  end  of  the  Narrows  would  be  about  that 
distance;  while,  from  Wesley  City  the  distance  would  be  about  six 
miles.  The  Indians  were  traveling  in  their  canoes  up  that  side  of  the 
lake  to  their  camp  that  winter  which  is  conceded  to  have  been  just  be- 
low the  Narrows,  as  Hennepiu  says  (Illinois  Historical  Collection,  Vol. 
1,  pages  91  and  95).  LaSalle's  statement,  that,  "We  had  not  gone  an 
hour  until  we  had  found  ice,"  makes  the  time  less  than  an  hour,  and 
from  Wesley  City  would  require  the  canoe  speed  through  a  strong  cur- 
rent at  the  mouth  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria,  and  also  at  the  Narrows 
to  be  at  the  rate  of  about  six  miles  an  hour.  There  is  no  reason  for  the 
assumption  that  the  east  side  of  the  lake  was  impassable  for  canoe 
travel  on  March  22nd  opposite  the  present  City  of  Peoria  where  it  was 
free  for  the  young  warrior  that  Hennepin  says  paddled  past  the  fort 
that  winter,  and  for  the  hunting  party  that  Henuepin  tells  about  meet- 
ing on  the  last  day  of  February  on  his  way  down  to  the  Mississippi. 

FOURTH,  IT  WAS  DEFENDED  ON  ONE  SIDE  BY  THE  RIVER 

Hennepin  in  his  second  account  of  Fort  Crevecoeur,  as  found  in 
"A  New  Discovery"  by  Ruben  Gold  Thwait,  page  170,  says,  "LaSalle 
desired  me  to  go  down  the  river  with  him  to  choose  a  place  to  build 
a  fort.  We  pitched  upon  an  eminence  on  the  bank  of  the  river  defended 
on  one  side  by  the  river."  This  defense  by  the  river  on  one  side,  is  not 
contradicted  by  any  person,  or  any  fact,  so  far  as  we  know.  LaSalle 
and  Hennepin  both  speak  of  the  fortification  on  three  sides  of  the  foil, 
but  never  mention  the  fortification  on  the  river  side. 

FIFTH,  IT  HAD  A  MARSH  IX  FRONT  OF  IT 

Francis  Park  man,  author  of  "LaSalle  and  the  Discovery  of  the 
fJreat  West"  took  several  trips  to  Paris  and  saw  document-  there 
about  LaSalle. and  the  fort  that  are  not  yet  translated  into  English.  On 
page  159  he  says:  "In  the  middle  of  .January  a  thaw  broke  up  the  ice 
which  had  closed  the  river,  and  he  (LaSalle)  set  out  in  a  canoe  with 
Hennepin  to  visit  the  site  he  had  chosen  for  his  projected  fort.  It  was 
half  a  league  below  the  camp  on  a  low  hill  or  knoll,  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  southern  bank.  On  either  side  was  a  deep  ravine  and  in  fnnil 
a  HHirshi/  tract  overflowed  at  high  water.  This  marshy  tract  will  be 
found  at  the  East  Peoria  site,  where  it  still  overflows  in  high  water  on 
the  river  side  of  the  site. 


SIXTH,  THE  MAIN  IIAXK  OF  THE  RIVER  WAS  JOG  PACES 

FROM  IT 

I  irimepin,  iii  both  of  his  accounts  of  the  fort,  gives  us  this  distance. 
We  quote  from  his  first  account  Illinois  Historical  Collection,  Vol  1, 
page  87,  "It  was  a  little  mound  about  two  hundred  paces  distant  from 
the  river."  This  is  an  apparent  contradiction  of  the  statement  made 
in  his  second  account  where  he  says,  "The  fort  was  built  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  and  was  defended  on  that  side  by  the  river,"  but  along 
this  part  of  the  river  are  many  arms  extending  upward  which  are  part 
of  it;  and,  between  which  and  the  river  proper  are  ridges.  The  fort 
being  on  a  marsh,  it  was  evidently  built  on  one  of  these  arms,  and  the 
statement  that  the  river,  "In  the  season  of  the  rains  extends  to  the 
foot  of  it"  explains  what  is  meant  by  the  river  spreading  to  the  foot 
of  the  fort  in  high  water  by  overflowing  the  ridge. 

SEVENTH,  THE  RIVER  IN  THE  RAINY  SEASON  SPREAD 

TO  IT 

Hennepin,  in  his  first  account  said  it  did  so.  Illinois  Historical 
Collection,  Vol.  1,  page  87.  Other  proof  can  be  quoted  but  there  is  no 
contradiction  of  the  above.  The  river  covered  the  ridge  and  the  swamp 
as  it  is  doing  at  this  writing,  March  23,  at  the  East  Peoria  site. 

EIGHTH,    THE    FORT    WAS   NEAR    THE    INDIAN    VILLAGE 
WHERE  LA  SALLE  LANDED 

'  Hennepin  says  in  his  first  publication  that  La  Salle  said  that  he 
had  found  a  "post  easy  of  defense  *  *  Near  the  Village"  (Ibid 
page  87).  Its  alleged  purpose  was  to  "defend  them  (the  Indians) 
provided  they  permitted  us  to  build  a  fort"  (Ibid  page  81).  The 
Indians  "accepted  all  our  proposals  and  said  they  "would  assist  us 
all  they  could"  (Ibid  page  81).  To  say  that  any  one  of  the  three 
Wesley  City  sites  is  near  the  Village  where  La  Salle  landed,  or  near 
the  village  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  is  unreasonable.  The 
distance  would  not  only  be  four  miles,  but  between  the  village  and 
those  sites  is  Farm  Creek,  which  is  often  a  raging  river.  The  creek 
is  twelve  miles  long,  skirted  most  of  the  way  by.  steep  hills,  and  would 
l>e  impassable  for  fugitive  Indians  old  and  young  after  a  heavy  rain. 

NINTH,  THE  FORT  WAS  BUILT  ON  A  LITTLE  MOUND 

The  fort  was  not  only  built  on  a  mound,  but  the  mound  was  a 
"little"  one,  so  Hennepin  says  in  his  first  account.  Illinois  Historical 
Collection,  Vol.  1,  page  87.  LaSalle  said  it  was  on  "a  little  elevation" 
or  "knoll"  (see  letter  quoted),  Hennepin  also  uses  the  word  "em- 

10 


inence"  in  speaking  of  it  (Ibid  87).  He  uses  the  word  "hills"  re- 
peatedly (Ibid,  pages  59,  02,  G3).  If  the  fort  was  built  on  the  hill  why 
did  he  not  use  that  word  instead  of  saying  it  was  built  on  a  "little 
mound",  an  eminence  or  on  what  La  Salle  calls  a  knoll?  The  answer 
is  he  did  not  for  the  same  reason  that  Franquelin  pictured  the  hills, 
and  the  valley,  and  did  not  place  the  fort  on  a  hill.  We  present 
Franquelin's  map  showing  the  hills,  the  valley,  the  lake  and  the  fort. 


11 


TENTH,  IT  WAS  BUILT  ADJOINING  WOODS 

Ilennepiu  speaking  of  the  fort  in  his  first  account  says:  "The 
forge 'was  set  up  along  the  curtain  which  faced  the  wood"  (Ibid,  page 
SS).  There  are  fine  woods  on  one  side  of  the  East  Peoria  site. 

ELEVENTH,  IT  ADJOINED  WIDE  DEEP  RAVINES,  MADE  BY 

RAINS 

Hennepin  says  in  his  first  report  tjiat  "two  broad  deep  ravines 
protected  two  other  sides  and  part  of  the  fourth"  (Ibid,  page  87).  And 
in  his  second  account  says:  The  fort  was  "defended  on  one  side  by 
the  river  and  on  two  others  by  two  ditches  the  rains  had  made  very 
deep  by  succession  of  time."  These  ravines  or  ditches  were  made  by 
rains  and  preclude  the  idea  of  being  wide  deep  hollows  such  as  adjoin 
the  two  hill  sites.  To  have  been  made  by  rains  the  ravines  must  be 
upon  a  lower  level  so  as  to  be  subject  to  a  current  of  water  coming 
down  into  them  and  this  would  imply  a  side  hill  site,  or  a  valley  site, 
and  not  a  site  surrounded  by  natural  hollows  on  a  high  plateau 
where  no  current  of  rain  water  could  accumulate  to  make  wide  and 
deep  ravines. 

TWELFTH,  THE  FORT  WAS  ON  WATER    THAT    IN    WINTER 
DID  NOT  FREEZE  MUCH 

This  is  proved  by  two  facts  narrated  by  Hennepin.  First,  he  tells 
of  a  young  warrior  who  carne  to  the  fort  in  his  canoe  and  "passed 
to  our  ship-yard."  "He  was  returning  from  the  lower  part  of  the 
river  Colbert  (Mississippi)  in  his  periagua"  (canoe).  This  must  have 
been  in  the  winter  because  Hennepin  left  on  February  29th  and  the 
building  of  the  fort  and  boat  began  the  middle  of  January,  Illinois 
Historical  Collection,  Vol  1,  pages  87,  91  and  95.  Second,  When  Hen- 
nepin and  his  two  companions  were  on  their  way  down  the  Illinois 
they  met  "several  parties  of  the  Islinois  returning  to  their  village 
in  their  periaguas  loaded  with  meat."  These  Indians  tried  to  per- 
suade them  to  return  and  the  boatmen  with  him  were  disposed  to  do 
so  but  "they  would  have  had  to  pass  by  Fort  Crevecoeur  where  our 
Frenchmen  would  have  stopped  them"  (Ibid,  page  95)  and  so  they 
pursued  their  way.  Having  met  these  Indian  who  were  going  to  their 
village  in  canoes  loaded  with  meat  so  close  past  Fort  Crevecoeur  that 
they  could  be  stopped  by  the  men  at  the  Fort,  where  was  the  channel 
that  they  would  traverse  in  so  doing?  and  where  was  "their  Village!" 
Is  it  not  plain  that  the  "young  warrior"  and  these  parties  of  Indians 
were  going  up  in  a  channel  of  spring  water  that  flowed  close  to  the 
Fortf  And  that  the  channel  was  free  from  ice  in  the  winter! 

12 


DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  FORT 

The  fort  has  I  .ecu  so  accurately  described  that  if  the  site  on  which 
it  was  built  can  be  produced  its  reconstruction  would  be  easy.  The 
channel  of  spring  water  that  passed  by  it  in  the  marsh,  and  the  exten- 
sion of  .that  channel  down  to  the  foot  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria  where 
it  met  the  strong  current  of  the  river  at  that  place,  and  the  extension 
of  that  channel  up  to  Omaha's  camp,  and  the  connection  of  it  with 
the  strong  current  of  the  water  from  the  Narrows  that  then  as  now 
flowed  directly  toward  the  camp  cannot  be  reproduced;  but  all  this 
can  be  shown  by  borings  that  will  show  the  fill  of  these  channels  made 
by  239  years  wash  from  the  higher  levels.  The  two  ravines  can  be 
opened  up  and  the  decayed  timbers  that  extended  along  their  inner 
sides,  to  hold  the  madrier  in  place  at  the  bottom,  and  the  decayed 
madrier  as  well  as  cross  pieces  extending  to  the  stockade  on  the  outer 
side  of  the  ravines,  with  the  evidence  of  the  logs  between  which  the 
bottoms  of  the  stockades  were  placed,  the  channel  in  the  fort  for  the 
ingress  and  egress  of  the  eight  canoes,  and  the  basin  where  they  were 
kept,  the  boat  yard  where  the  boat  42  feet  keel  and  twelve  broad  was 
built,  the  locations  at  the  angles  of  the  fort  where  the  barracks  were, 
and  where  were  placed  the  chapel  and  blacksmith  shop,  and  LaSalle 
and  Tonty's  hut,  with  the  willow  drains  (not  mentioned)  to  carry  off 
the  surface  water,  can  be  reproduced,  just  as  described  by  LaSalle 
and  Hennepin.  Their  descriptions  are  alike,  except  in  a  few  minor 
details  which  are  not  in  both.  We  need  only  give  LaSalle 's  description 
to  get  a  complete  idea  of  it.  LaSalle  in  the  letter  dated  September  29th 
above  referred  to  in  Margry,  second  volume,  says : 

"On  the  fifteenth  of  January  a  great  thaw  set  in  which  rendered 
the  river  navigable  from  Pimiteoui  to  the  spot  selected  to  build  the 
fort.  It  was  a  little  elevation  or  knoll  about  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet 
(3  arpents)  from  the  bank,  at  the  foot  of  which  the  river  extended  in 
the  time  of  heavy  rain$.  Two  ravines,  deep  and  large,  protected  the 
two  sides  of  the  fort  and  the  fourth  to  about  one-half,  which  we  finished 
as  a  protection  by  a  ditch  that 'met  the  two  ravines.  We  fortified  the 
other  sides  of  the  ravines  with  heavy  chevaux  defrise  and  made  tin- 
sides  slope  down  very  steeply.  With  the  dirt  that  we  were  getting 
therefrom  we  built  a  breastwork  on  the  high  place,  high  enough  to  cov- 
er our  men.  The  whole  we  covered  from  the  base  of  the  knoll  to  the  top 
of  the  breastwork,  the  base  of  which  was  supported  by  long  pieces  of 
wood  all  around  the  elevation.  The  top  of  the  madrier  were  held  l'a-t 
by  other  pieces  of  wood  that  extended  from  the  thickness  at  the  breast- 
work. In  front  of  these  works  we  planted  all  over  long,  pointed  piles 
twenty-five  feet  high  and  one  foot  in  diameter,  and  three  feet  deep  in 

13 


tin*  ground,  bolted  to  the  cross  pieces  of  wood  that  were  holding  fast 
the  top  of  the  heavy  pieces  of  timber,  with  a  counter-sink  of  two  feet 
and  one-half  in  length  to  prevent  any  surprize  from  the  enemy.  We 
left  the  summit  of  the  knoll  as  it  was,  the  form  of  which  was  an  irregu- 
lar square.  We  placed  barracks  in  two  of  the  angles  for  our  men  so 
that  they  would  always  be  ready  in  case  of  an  attack.  In  a  third  angle 
facing  the  woods,  we  placed  the  forge.  The  chapel  for  the  recollects 
or  missionaries  on  the  fourth  angle  and  the  hut  for  Sieur,  Tonty  and 
myself  in  the  center  of  the  place." 

Upon  none  of  the  sites  except  the  East  Peoria  site  can  the  fort 
be  reconstructed.  If  we  treat  the  hollows  at  the  sides  of  the  sites  as 
ravines  made  by  rains,  the  outer  slopes  of  the  hollows  must  be  fortified 
with  cheveaux  de  frise  and  the  inner  sides  of  them  cut  down  steeply 
and  the  earth  thus  obtained  thrown  up  for  breastworks  and  supported 
by  madrier  (heavy  sawed  timbers)  held  in  place  at  their  base  by  long 
pieces  of  wood,  and  at  the  top  by  horizontal  pieces  of  timber  bolted 
(pegged)  to  the  palisade  or  stockade  twenty-five  feet  high  that  was 
planted  "in  front."  These  hollows  cannot  be  thus  used.  The  bar- 
racks would  be  useless  (at  diagonal  angles  of  course)  because  the  hill 
would  shut  out  from  them  the  view  of  a  great  part  of  the  stockade. 
The  blacksmith  shop  would  be  in  one  hollow  and  the  chapel  in  the 
other  with  no  place  for  the  ship  yard  and  the  hut  for  La  Salle  and 
Tonty  would  be  in  the  "center  of  the  place,"  that  is  on  top  of  a  steep 
hill.  The  river  would  be  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away  from  the  lower  hill 
site  and  half  a  mile  from  the  upper  hill  site.  We  venture  to  say  that 
if  a  contract  were  made  with  a  competent  person  to  reconstruct  Fort 
Oreveceour  on  either  hill  site  according  to  the  original  plan  he  would 
throw  up  both  hands  and  the  job,  and  say  that  it  is  impossible  and 
impracticable.  This  power  to  reconstruct  is  we  think  the  acid  test  of 
the  site  for  if  the  fort  will  not  fit  the  place:  and  if  the  place  is  more 
or  less  than  a.  leaarue  from  Pimiteau:  and  more  or  less  than  half  a 
league  from  Omaha's  camp;  and  more  than  an  hours  ride  in  a  canoe 
from  obstructing  ice  in  March:  and  is  not  defended  in  any  way  on  one 
side  bv  the  river;  and  has  no  marsh  in  front  of  it;  and  the  main  bank  of 
the  river  is  more  or  less  than  200  paces  away,  and  the  river  never 
spreads  over  to  it;  and  it  is  not  near  the  Indian  villages  where  LaSalle 
landed;  and  it  is  not  a  mound  (French  name  tetre)  but  a  high  hill ;  and 
had  no  ravines  on  the  sides  made  by  rains,  these  missing  essentials 
should  cause  one  to  suspect  that  probably  the  fort  was  built  some  other 
place.  If  the  fort  could  be  reconstructed  it  would  be  the  only  French 
and  Indian  fort  in  Illinois,  and  would  be  educational  as  well  as  an  in- 
teresting memento.  A  very  full  description  of  such  forts  is  found  in 
Illinois  Historical  Collection,  Vol.  1,  page  182. 

14 


UPPER  HILL  SITE 

If  La8alle  and  his  flotilla  were  carried  by  the  force  of  the  current 
to  the  shore,  at  the  middle  of  the  village,  the  upper  hill  site  would  be 
directly  above  that  point  on  top  of  the  hill  and  would  be  only  half  a 
mile  instead  of  half  a  league  away.  This  being  so  if  Ilennepin  instead 
of  saying  as  he  did  that  "La  Salle  desired  me  to  go  down  the  rircr 
with  him  to  choose  a  place  to  build  a  fort"  and  "jve  proceeded  with 
one  of  our  canoes  to  the  place"  he  had  said  they  proceeded  in  one  of 
their  canoes  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  there  would  be  that  much  to 
support  the  claim  of  the  Upper  Hill  site. 

The  reasons  why  neither  location  on  the  hill  can  be  accepted  as 
true,  are: 

First:    No  one  who  saw  the  Fort  says  it  was  built  on  a  hill. 

Second:  The  sites  on  the  hill  have  on  each  side  hollows  that  are 
about  one  hundred  fifty  feet  deep,  and  about  three  hundred  feet  across 
at  the  top,  and  the  exterior  slopes  of  these  hollows,  if  they  are  to  be 
treated  as  "wide  deep  ravines"  were  not  formed  by  rains,  and  could 
not  have  been  fortified  on  their  "exterior  slopes  with  cheveaux  de 
friese,"  or  have  planks  doweled  from  the  Madrier  to  the  stockade,  or 
have  the  stockade  so  placed  as  to  make  the  construction  of  the  fort  a 
practicable  defense. 

Third:  There  is  no  place  on  the  hill  for  a  boat  yard  in  which  to 
keep  the  eight  canoes,  or  to  build  the  ship  "42  ft.  keel  and  12  ft." 
broad,  which  was  being  built  while  they  were  building  the  fort,  nor 
could  they  be  left  at  a  boat  yard  at  the  river  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or 
half  a  mile  from  the  fort. 

Fourth:  If  the  exterior  of  the  slopes  of  the  ravines  or  hollows, 
are  to  be  treated  as  the  boundary  of  the  Fort,  the  barracks  could  not 
ho  placed  in  two  angles  thereof,  a  chapel  in  the  third,  and  blacksmith 
shop  in  the  fourth  as  is  shown  was  done,  and  be  practical. 

Fifth:  Water  for  drinking,  cooking,  washing,  etc.,  could  not  be 
carried  up  for  the  white  men,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Indians  who  were 
evidently  working  at  the  fort,  and  be  kept  from  freezing  from  January 
15th,  when  they  commenced  building  the  Fort,  until  the  following 
Spring.  For  these  and  other  reasons  the  sites  on  the  hill  must  he 
treated  as  the  sites  of  fortifications  of  the  Mound  Builders,  many  of 
which  may  be  found  elsewhere  also  on  the  tops  of  the  hills  in  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Ohio,  Minnesota,  Pennsylvania  and  other  places  as  shown  by 
the  second  chapter  of  "Scribner's  History"  of  the  United  States,  and 
by  various  works  devoted  to  Mound  Builders. 

15 


THE  EAST  PEOBTA  SIT  I! 

At  tlu»  end  of  the  lake,  exactly  at  the  place  where  Franquelin 
marks  the  location  of  Fort  Crevecoeur,  at  a  point  about  five  hundred 
feet  from  the  main  bank  of  the  river  at  its  high  water  stage,  which  was 
probably  the  only  stage  known  to  Hennepin,  and  adjoining  heavy  woods 
on  the  hill  side,  with  a  deep  ravine  on  one  side,  and  another  ravine 
on  part  of  two  side^,  in  the  Village  of  East  Peoria  about  on  a  line  with 
Fayette  Street  in  Peoria  if  extended,  is  the  East  Peoria  valley  site,  of 
Fort  Crevecoeur.  Within  its  limits  are  two  springs  of  clear  cold  water 
issuing  from  a  bank  of  gravel,  the  perpetual  flow  of  each  of  which 
will  more  than  fill  a  six  inch  pipe.  One  spring  is  surrounded  by  high 
banks  in  the  shape  of  a  heart.  A  large  log  about  two  feet  wide,  hewed 
on  the  top,  is  laid  practically  on  a  level,  in  this  spring  from  one  side 
toward  the  other,  reaching  to  the  center  of  the  depression,  the  bank  of 
which  at  its  upper  end  is  about  ten  feet  high.  The  end  of  this  log  at  the 
center  of  the  spring  is  under  a  willow  stump.  The  upper  surface  of  the 
log  had  five  notches  cut  across  it,  as  if  used  for  the  water  to  pour  over 
from  a  dam,  which  it  made.  From  the  bank  of  the  spring  at  the  end 
of  the  log,  is  a  sort,  of  "Dug  Way"  from  the  upper  level  to  the  log, 
as  if  made  for  persons  to  come  down  upon  the  log,  to  catch  the  water 
in  vessels  as  it  flowed  through  the  notches.  That  this  heart  shape  to 
the  Spring  was  artificially  made  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  on  the  side 
opposite  the  log,  in  cleaning  out  the  Spring,  a  curved  log  was  found 
fitted  in  tinder  the  embankment,  and  back  of  the  log  oak  boards  with 
saw  marks  straight  across  them.  The  side  of  the  spring  where  the  log 
extends  from  the  willow  stump  to  the  bank,  has  not  been  dug  out,  but 
the  log  has  been  uncovered  and  is  falling  into  decay  very  rapidly. 
Adjoining  this  curved  log  under  the  water,  was  found  a  large  quantity 
of  what  seemed  to  be  saw  dust,  extending  from  the  curved  log  to  the 
ends  of  posts  standing  upright  in  the  spring  water,  rotted  off  to  the 
surface  of  the  water.  LaSalle  may  have  tried  to  give  the  name  to  his 
location,  and  preserve  it,  by  the  shape  of  the  construction  of  this  Spriim. 
The  name  of  the  man  who  uncovered  the  notched  log,  and  took  out  tin1 
curved  log  and  the  supposed  saw  dust,  is  Joseph  Wade.  He  lives  and 
has  lived  in  Peoria  for  over  forty  years. 

At  the  north-east  angle,  covered  by  spring  water,  lias  been  found, 
and  is  now  to  be  seen,  the  sills  of  a  structure,  the  exact  size  of  some 
of  which  has  not  yet  been  determined,  because  large  willow  trees  are 
growing  over  or  close  to  them.  The  middle  sill  is  about  fourteen  feet 
from  the  outer  one,  and  has  planks  against  its  outer  side  below  water 
line.  The  outer  one  of  the  sills  is  hewed,  and  is  aibout'thirty  feet  long, 
and  about  twelve  inches  by  eighteen  square,  and  on  its  side  toward  the 

16 


river  has  a  shoulder  cut  into  the  side  horizontally,  about  four  inches 
and  perpendicularly  about  six  inches  extending  its  full  length.  On  the 
line  about  100  feet  west  of  this  sill,  at  a  depth  of  about  eight  feet  under 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  Mr.  J.  P.  Gumming,  a  well  borer,  of  East 
(Peoria  recently  found  two  feet  of  timber  along  what  was  evidently 
the  canoe  channel  that  passed  the  fort.  At  the  westerly  line,  between 
what  is  supposed  to  be  the  site  of  the  chapel  and  the  barracks,  are  to 
be  found  decayed  wood  the  fibre  of  which  shows  it  to  have  been  laid 
parallel  along  the  outside  of  the  fort.  There  is  a  ridge  above  this 
decayed  wood  upon  which  good  sized  trees  are  growing.  The  counter- 
scarp along  one  of  the  ravines  is  well  defined,  and  parts  of  burned 
stockades  have  been  taken  from  the  swamp  made  by  the  springs.  In 
the  diagonal  corner  from  the  sills  mentioned  no  decayed  wood  is  found 
under  the  surface  indicating  that  barracks  had  been  placed  there  and 
that  the  same  served  the  place  of  the  stockades.  One  of  the  timbers 
supposed  to  be  a  stockade  was  excavated  from  the  swamp  by  Professors 
WyckofT,  Comstock,  and  Evans,  of  the  Bradley  Polytechnic  School  in 
Peoria,  that  measured  a  trifle  over  twenty-five  feet  in  length  and  was 
about  a  foot  in  diameter,  at  the  butt  end.  From  it  Professor  Brewer 
of  Peoria  extracted  with  his  pen  knife,  from  what  appeared  to  be  a 
dent  made  in  it  by  an  arrow,  a  piece  of  flint  that  appeared  to  be  part 
of  an  arrow.  Part  of  another  supposed  stockade  of  red  cedar  timber, 
1  tartly  burned,  was  excavated  at  another  place  and  through  one  side 
of  it  there  was  what  seemed  to  be  a  bullet  hole.  Another  of  the  sup- 
posed stockades,  was  excavated  from  the  channel  on  the  westerly  side. 
It  was  about  twenty  feet  long,  the  smaller  end  having  rotted  away. 
Professor  Comstock  of  the  Bradley  Polytechnic  Institute  of  Peoria 
made  a  survey  and  sketch  of  the  site  giving  its  elevations  above  high 
water  of  the  river,  and  its  dimensions,  which  he  kindly  furnished  us 
and  is  here  presented  on  page  18.  Upon  the  Sketch  Professor  Comstock 
noted  what  he  had  found.  The  writer  has  found  wood  at  a  depth  of  8 
feet  below  the  surface  at  the  inner  side  of  the  channel  on  the  westerly 
side,  with  the  fibre  running  parallel  to  the  channel,  and  decayed  wood 
at  the  bottom,  as  if  the  madrier  holding  up  the  embankment  on  the 
inner  side  of  that  channel  had  fallen  into  the  channel.  Decayed 
wood  can  also  be  found  along  the  river  side  of  the  site  at  alxmt  ;i 
depth  of  three  feet  which  the  writer  has  good  reason  to  believe  is 
decomposed  logs  laid  on  cadi  side  of  the  base  of  the  stockades,  be- 
tween the  buildings  in  the  angles.  What  is  said  in  reply  to  these  facts 
by  those  who  claim  this  is  not  where  the  fort  was  built?  Nothing  but 
that  a  distillery  was  built  there.  It  is  true  that  a  distillery  was  built 
across  the  westerly  ravine  and  channel  of  water  in  early  days,  but 

17 


COMSTOCK  SKETCH 


18 


Henry  T.  Baldwin,  who  recently  died  in  Rockford,  111.,  and  who  was 
Mayor  of  Peoria  in  1867  wrote  the  writer  a  letter  a  few  years  ago, 
which  is  in  existence,  saying  he  saw  the  distillery  about  the  year  1849 
when  he  was  about  13  years  old  and  described  it  as  about  16  feet  wide 
and  about  24  feet  long.  He  located  it  exactly  where  part  of  a  founda- 
tion of  a  building  of  about  that  size  is  to  be  found  now.  It  is  more  than 
likely  that  the  burned  barracks  also  were  utilized  in  very  early  days, 
and  that  the  spring  water  in  the  site  was  used  for  dairy  purposes  at  the 
house  near  the  southeast  corner  and  that  many  charred  timbers  to  be 
found  are  modern;  but  these  facts  do  not  tend  to  explain  the  timbers 
under  the  surface  laid  in  and  around  an  area  of  more  than  an  acre 
constituting  the  site  of  the  fort. 

We  have  photographed  a  miniature  model  of  Fort  Crevecoeur, 
viewed  from  the  north  side  as  described  by  Hennepin  and  LaSalle 
based  upon  conditions  now  to  be  found  at  the  East  Peoria  site  and 
present  a  copy  of  the  same. 


The  photograph  has  numbers  which  are  explained  as  follows: 

The  two  numbers  One  represent  the  barracks.    Numl>er  2  repiv 
sents  a  supposed  provision  house.     Numl>er  3  the  blacksmith  shop. 
Number  4  LaSalle  and  Tonti's  tent;  Number  f>  the  eight  canoes  in  a 
pool  that  is  still  perpetually  supplied  with  spring  water;  Number  6 

19 


the  Chapel.  To  the  right  is  a  channel,  now  filled  up,  extending  over 
cultivated  land,  where  the  water  from  the  westerly  channel,  that  came 
from  the  Bluff  above  it  that  flowed  originally  along  the  inside  of  the 
westerly  line  was  diverted  from  its  original  channel  to  this  artificial 
<  liaunol,  so  as  to  keep  the  floods  caused  by  rains  from  entering  the 
Foil.  This  channel  so.  filled  is  easy  to  trace. 

To  the  east  side  of  the  Fort  is  the  curved  channel  that  comes  from 
the  hill.  Towards  the  center  of  the  south  side  ot  the  site  that  coursed 
its  way  from  about  the  center  of  that  side  to  the  easterly  (left)  side 
,of  the  site,  and  thence  along  that  side  to  the  swamp,  or  what  was  then 
undoubtedly  a  stream  along  the  river  side  of  the  fort.  The  hill  back 
of  the  Fort  is  covered  with  timber  that  is  now  being  cut  down,  but  the 
model  shows  this  poorly.  On  the  northerly  or  river  side  of  the  Fort, 
and  close  to  it,  is  illustrated  the  channel  of  spring  water,  that  can 
yet  be  traced  toward  the  lower  end  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria.  There 
a  strong  current  of  the  river  keeps  the  river  from  freezing  in  the  win- 
ter. It  is  supposed  that  up  and  down  this  channel  the  Indians  on 
both  sides  of  the  upper  end  of  the  lake  opposite  Peoria  traversed, 
with  their  canoes.  Also  that  above  their  village  the  strong  current  of 
the  river  at  the  Narrows  coursed  its  way  to  their  village  thus  giving 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Lake  opposite  Peoria  canoe  travel  in  the  winter 
time  close  to  the  fort.  In  the  model,  between  the  channel  on  the  river 
side  of  the  fort  and  the  river  proper,  is  shown  a  ridge. 

WHERE  DID  LA  SALLE  LAND 

La  Salle  and  Hennepin  agree  in  saying  that  the  eight  canoes  of 
the  flotilla  came  through  the  Narrows  side  by  side,  carried  by  a  swift 
current,  and  that  they  were  thus  carried  to  the  shore.  The  Narrows 
has  two  points,  either  one  of  which  could  <be  "doubled"  as  Hennepin 
expresses  it,  and  behind  which  the  eighty  cabins  full  of  Indians  could 
be  concealed.  The  one  on  the  East  side  is  where  Ten  Mile  Creek 
empties  into  the  Narrows,  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  below  the 
upper  lake,  and  about  the  same  distance  above  the  lake  opposite  Peoria. 
The  point  on  the  West  side  is  a  little  lower  down  where  a  small  stream 
that  courses  its  way  down  from  Springdale  Cemetery  empties  at  The 
Water  Works  Park  into  the  Narrows.  Each  point  has  a  hill  close  by 
that  would  serve  for  the  presentation  of  the  calument  mention  by  Ilen- 
nepin.  The  channel  of  the  Narrows  is  straight  and  its  water  runs  south 
and  the  lake  into  which  its  water  empties  extends  southwest  and  north- 
east. Water  unobstructed  will  flow  in  a  straight  line,  and  given  the 
strong  current  mentioned,  and  the  eight  canoes  side  by  side  carried  by 
the  current,  and  the  landing  would  be  on  the  East  side  of  the  river.  It 

20 


would  contradict  a  natural  law  to  say  that  the  canoes  would  be  carried 
to  the  West  shore. 

THE  RAILROAD  SITE 

This  discovery  was  made  by  one  who  was  employed  to  find  tho 
site  of  the  fort  near  where  a  sword,  supposed  to  be  of  French  origin, 
but  subsequently  discovered  to  be  British,  was  found,  and  he  selected 
a  site  that  he  says  is  of  pure  sand  where  no  timber  would  grow. 
But  trees  of  large  size,  willows  in  particular,  will  grow  on  sand  if  close 
to  water.  The  pure  sand  theory  is  pure  imagination,  as  no  one  who 
saw  the  fort  intimated  that  it  was  built  on  pure  sand.  Nor  do  they 
say  there  was  no  timber  on  the  site.  The  fact  is  the  site  selected  in  a 
railroad  yard  was  overflow  land  up  to  about  the  year  1870  and  Mr. 
Ballance  in  his  history  virtually  says  so.  It  would  overflow  now  if  it 
were  not  for  the  railroad  embankments,  and  was  likely  in  1680  swept  by 
Farm  Creek.  The  sketch  of  it  made  by  its  discoverer  will  fit  the  East 
Peoria  site  by  turning  it  upside  down  but  will  not  fit  the  site  described 
for  it.  Journal  of  Illinois  Historical  Society,  Vol.  5,  No.  3,  January, 
1913.  Its  discoverer  after  examining  the  East  Peoria  site  was  asked 
what  he  thought  of  it  and  replied  that  there  was  too  much  work  dono 
there  to  have  been  accomplished  by  LaSalle  and  his  men  in  the  nine 
weeks  between  its  commencement  and  LaSalle 's  departure,  on  March 
22nd  (Illinois  Historical  Collection,  Vol.  1,  page  131).  This  ignores  tho 
promised  aid  of  the  Indians  (Ibid,  page  81).  There  was  much  of  the 
work  the  Indians  could  do,  and  likely  would  do,  as  the  fort  was  bein.u 
built  for  their  benefit  so  they  were  told  (Ibid,  page  81)  and  they  would 
want  to  get  knives,  awls,  tobacco,  beads,  needles,  axes,  etc.  (Ibid,  p;, 
95  and  80)  which  LaSalle  had,  in  exchange  for  work.  The  Indians  had 
built  many  similar  forts  before  LaSalle 's  arrival.  As  the  opponents 
of  the  East  Peoria  site  seem  to  never  tire  of  mentioning  the  distillery 
they  may  think  the  work  done  was  about  the  right  amount  for  a  dis- 
tillery built  at  such  a  place  in  the  forties. 

THE  WESLEY  CITY  SITE 

This  site  is  on  the  river  hank,  but  lias  no  marsh  in  front  of  it, 
has  no  ravines  as  described  by  La  Salle  and  Hennepin,  is  not  near  tho 
Indian  villages,  is  not  within  half  a  league  of  Omaha's  camp,  nor  within 
a  league  of  Pimiteoui,  and  has  no  spring  water  or  place  to  keep  the 
boats. 

CONCLUSION 

The  lost  site  has  not  been  found  because  the  words  "ravines'*  and 
"ditches"  made  by  rains  have  been  considered  hollows  made  by  the 

21 


flood  that  formed  all  the  hills  and  hollows;  and,  by  adopting  the  lake 
opposite  Peoria  as  one  of  the  three  lakes  composing  Lake  Pimiteoui 
instead  of  treating  it  as  the  fourth  lake  mentioned  by  LaSalle.  There 
must  have  been  a  lake  above  the  island  at  Chillicothe  to  create  the 
three  straits  that  La  Salle  says  connected  the  three  lakes  and  to  make 
the  fourth  lake  that  La  Salle  describes.  It  will  not  do  to  call  the  lake 
just  above  the  Narrows  the  "middle  or  small  lake"  because  it  is  larger 
than  both  the  lake  just  below  Chillicothe  and  the  lake  opposite  Peoria 
if  the  two  were  combined.  It  is  only  by  abandoning  what  is  said  by 
those  who  know,  and  adopting  the  fancies  of  those  who  do  not  know, 
that  the  site  of  the  fort  has  been  located  at  four  of  the  sites. 

There  was  introduced  by  the  Hon.  Ben  L.  Smith,  of  Pekin,  111.,  on 
March  19th,  1919,  House  Bill  No.  381,  to  our  Legislature  to  "Establish 
and  maintain  The  Fort  Crevecoeur  Park  in  Tazewell  County,  Illinois." 
It  provides  for  the  procurement  by  "donation,  purchase  or  otherwise," 
of  "a  tract  of  land  in  Tazewell  County  containing  not  fewer  than  forty 
acres  in  Section  one  (Township  not  given),  to  "be  set  apart  for  a  State 
Park  and  shall  be  known  as  ''Fort  Crevecoeur  State  Park."  The  Bill 
has  been  printed  and  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Appropriations.  The 
only  Section  One  within  miles  of  any  of  the  five  sites  is  Section  One  in 
Pekin  Township.  Wesley  City  is  partly  in  Groveland  township  and  partly 
in  Pekin  Township,  the  part  where  the  Wesley  City  site  is  located  being 
in  Pekin  township.  This  being  so,  the  Bill  contemplates  establishing  the 
site  of  Fort  Crevecoeur  at  the  Lower  Hill  site.  A  public  road  at  State 
and  County  expense  is  projected  across  said  Section  One,  extending  from 
Pekin  to  East  Peoria;  and,  if  a  Park  bought,  improved  and  maintained 
at  State  expense  can  be  established  on  that  road  the  sponsors  of  the  Bill 
need  not  worry  as  to  whether  the  Fort  was  built  one  place  or  another, 
or  whether  it  ever  existed. 


